6.27.22
Full Recap: Grade 10 Capstone Project
On Tuesday, June 7th 2022, the FATE annual Student Showcase was finally back after a 2-year pandemic hiatus, and we were THRILLED. Our 9th graders developed marketing and advertising campaigns for Merit and our 10th graders designed a Merit product collection.
INTRODUCTION
Each year our 9th and 10th grade FATE cohorts participate in an end-of-year capstone project where they put their skills in business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and design-thinking to practice! Four 9th grade teams were asked to create a Marketing and Advertising Campaign for Merit (our cause-based fashion brand) which included a 60-second commercial, a print advertisement, and a pitch presentation. A panel of expert judges in the PR and marketing field was tasked with declaring the winner - which means their commercial will be used and promoted by Merit! Our 10th graders were split into three teams and developed a Merit Product Collection. These collections were on display trade show booth style and available for presale at the Student Showcase. The team with the most pre-sales is declared the winner and their collection will be produced in full by Merit!
Grade 10: Design a Merit Product Collection
After a virtual 9th grade year, the 10th grade FATE students finally got a taste of some traditional FATE programming and their Grade 10 FATE Capstone Project: Designing a Merit Product Collection. They were put into 3 project teams and each one has spent the past few months developing a collection that was put on display at the annual Student Showcase and made available for pre-sale.
Let’s meet our Grade 10 Project Teams:
Prodigy
- Team Members: Dellron, Jaylen, Kayla, Keylee, Nilen, Taylor, and Teresz
- Collection Theme: “Community”
- Graphic Designer: Skylar Holt
About the Collection: “Our story is unique because we are bringing attention to the community which is often overlooked. Our collection represents the true meaning of community coming together and giving back. Detroit is full of hardworking people and if invested in, it will produce world changers.
Culture Creators
- Team Members: Alana, Ashiya, Bevin, Chandler, Torion
- Collection Theme: “Growth”
- Graphic Designer: Skylar Holt
About the Collection: “Through this product collection, we wanted to represent a community that embodies our theme: Growth. This community exemplifies a mindset and attitude that remains persistent and finds ways to grow no matter what. Like Merit, we all have our own stories of how we got to where we are today; this collection represents that progress. We all have the potential to become a better version of ourselves, and that is the message the collection conveys.”
Cheat Code
- Team Members: Korey, Kyla, LeKwan, MeLasjiah, NaKayla
- Collection Theme: “Your Future is the Bigger Picture”
- Graphic Designer: Skylar Holt
About the Collection: “We believe you should prioritize your future and the path you want to take to become successful. Your future is filled with opportunities - it’s the” bigger picture”! We picked a galactic and outer space theme because we believe that there are unlimited opportunities in outer space - it’s endless.
ABOUT THE GRADE 10 CAPSTONE PROJECT
Developing a Theme, Design Concepts & Creative Brief
To begin creating a product collection, each team needed to pick a theme that would guide the designs in their collection. It was important that not only did each theme have a name, but that the teams were able to describe how the theme connects to the Merit brand and its target customers. With a collection theme chosen, each team developed 5 design concept ideas and worked on a “creative brief” that outlined the aesthetic, design elements, colors, and inspirations images that helped guide the design process.
Product Designs
The creative brief was then pitched to our graphic designer - Skyler Holt - who worked with each team to bring their vision to life. In addition to creating the 5 design concepts, each team got to decide which product they wanted in their collection, the color of both product and the graphics, and the design placement.
Creating a Trade Show Booth Display
We produce a sample collection for each team which is on display during the annual Student Showcase and available for pre-sale. To create these trade show booth displays, we partner with Creative Solutions Group (CSG) - a full service experiential marketing company. During the excursion workshop with CSG, students get a chance to design their own trade show booth poster.
2022 STUDENT SHOWCASE - GRADE 10
During the 2022 Student Showcase, the Grade 10 teams had their product collections on display for pre-sale as they interacted with a variety of customers! The goal was to not only showcase their creativity and hard work - but to get the most pre-sales. As each team competed against one another, they had to focus on grabbing the customers attention by describing what makes their product unique and the message behind their designs.
It is always so impressive to see our students transform into sales experts! One of our Grade 10 students - Nilen - was on point all night with his product descriptions! He had on his team’s “Midnight Boomerang Hoodie” as he shared to customers - “for me personally, I have on the boomerang because I like how it represents the more energy you put into something the more energy you get back”.
Who was Crowned the Winner???
While there were 3 incredible collections, only ONE team was selected as the winner based on having the most pre-sales from June 7th - June 22nd. In addition to a cash prize, the winning team’s collection will be produced in FULL and made available on Merit’s website. What’s so exciting about the Grade 10 Capstone Project is that the winning team has been chosen by YOU, our Merit customers! Our official WINNER OF THE 2022 STUDENT SHOWCASE COMPETITION is…
Culture Creators- “Growth” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Culture Creators took home the big win with their “Growth” collection! Their top selling product was their green “Personal Growth Hoodie”! We are so incredibly proud of all three teams and the hard work they put into these product collections the past few months. In addition to “Growth” taking home the win, we will also be producing the TOP 5 selling products outside of the winning collection! Both the winning collection and top 5 products are available for order at meritgoodness.com! Our top 5 selling products include:
"Community"
- "Dedication" Eclipse Hoodie - Black
- "World Changers" Proud Member Tee - White
- "Boomerang" Moon Dust Tee - White
"Your Future is the Bigger Picture"
We want to give a special thanks to our Grade 10 Capstone Project partners which include:
- Graphic Designer - Skylar Holt
- Creative Solutions Group & Give Merit Board Member - Kori Valentine
As well as a special thank you to Lambert for being our 2022 Student Showcase sponsor.
Photo Credit: Allison Farrand